"Life is about the JOURNEY, not the DESTINATION..." is a recurring familial North Star bantied about ever since we packed the car and moved 1289 miles to Jigger, Louisiana the day after our wedding, 43 light years ago.
After living in five states, owning six houses and living in several more rentals, we're back living in a a trailer!
We're journey-iers...literally and existentially.
Most often someone will quote the "Journey mantra" during one of those glorious road trips to nowhere, typically while wending a winding back road NOT yet charted by GPS.
We're on them frequently (in fact one of us purposely looks for them)...it drives the other one a bit crazy...and Jennifer has grown to love a good back road journey also.
So many journeys from the past waiting to be written..."Serendipity" comes to mind about the unexpected sights we've been blessed to experience.
Although I am finding - the entire universe may now be in a bit of shift...
I'm coming to realize in many situations, the destination must be commensurate with the struggle of the journey.
A good back road excursion with ice cream at the end is an example of a properly balanced journey/destination.
We've been known to drive from Sparta to Clark Summit (180 miles round trip) just for some Krispy Kreme donuts. Again, hot glazed red lights are a worthy destination for an epic journey.
And I like a hike with a stunning grand vista at the end, maybe a singing water falls or historic site to see...
It is said "...Life is a journey..." which seems to hold some truth...
...which often makes me stop and ponder about life's ultimate Destination.
We've been amazingly blessed, far beyond our wildest imaginations...yet there are times when life can still feel like a struggle.
I remain certain the final Destination will be worth the effort to stay true, to hold to the course, to move forward.
My belief holds firm that there is so much more than a cold, damp hole in the ground waiting at the end.
Why even get out of bed in the morning to continue the journey if being worm food is the final destination?
And I think about the journey between here and there...about what keeps us going, what internal drive propels us moving forward...what motivation energizes the next step...
For me, it is movement - simple mobility... feeling alive... being outdoors... walking a log... a jump from rock to rock... a desire to see what's around the next corner... doing... accomplishing... even WORKING - to prove I am still able.
I can grow weary and unbearably agitated from just sitting.
And I think of those dear loved ones with health issues impacting their journey...and it is more than a few who are impacted.
My heart hurts for them.
When I wore a younger man's clothes, I mentioned to Judy about being ready to push my wheelchair off a tall cliff if I lost mobility, thinking then as now, it would be better than existing with immobility.
But in reality, we are planning our "forever home" to be wheelchair accessible and all on one floor...so only time will tell. (Perhaps I may still be able to paint watercolors in my wheelchair if that is my lot...)
So maybe, just maybe, peace is finding balance between the Journey and Destination...life may be more than constantly moving, traveling to somewhere, seeing the next sight...
Perhaps it is in just being - finding contentment when traveling...while doing...and finding contentment while sitting still...
It is good to prepare for the final Destination...
And perhaps between now and then, it is finding a bit of peace from the morning fog, as it slowly lifts to reveal the view over my coffee cup.
While walking in the Petrified Forest, oooing at the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon, hiking at Zion and even climbing the glorious Arches - we were both ready to get back to Windy Hill.
For now, it is a most worthy destination...and we are at peace...
Let the adventure continue...
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